Virat Kohli: List of all 7 double centuries in Test cricket
The first Test match of the series gave a lot to talk about the magnificence of the Indian batting order. Rohit Sharma scored a century in each innings to silence his critics while Mayank Agarwal hit a superb double-ton to cement his place at the top-of-the-order.
For a brief period of time, Virat Kohli wasn’t the centre of attraction. He got out to a delivery that stuck in the pitch, surrendering his wicket to a left-arm bowler once again. In the second innings, he remained 31 not out, but by that time the damage had already been done.
In Pune, Mayank continued from where he had left off at Vizag and scored another century. But instead of Rohit, it was skipper Kohli who stole away the limelight from the Karnataka batsman. The skipper remained unbeaten on 254 off 336 deliveries. This was Kohli’s seventh score of over 200 in 81 Tests.
Here’s a list of all 200 plus scores of Virat Kohli in Test cricket.
#1 200 vs West Indies at North Sound, July 2016
Winning the toss and electing to bat first against West Indies at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, India lost the wickets of Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara early. Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli stitched a healthy 105-run partnership to put India in a commanding position. Kohli also shared a huge partnership of 168 with Ravichandran Ashwin (113) to help India cross the 500-run mark.
This was Kohli’s maiden double hundred and was very much appreciated by the great Sir Vivian Richards, who was present at the ground. India won the match by an innings and 92-runs.
#2 211 vs New Zealand at Indore, October 2016
The third Test match at the Holkar Cricket Stadium at Indore was witness to another Virat Kohli spectacle, as he went on to score his second double hundred of 2016. Kohli scored 211 in 366 deliveries and shared a humongous 365-run partnership with Ajinkya Rahane (188), who was unlucky to miss out on a double hundred. Virat showcased his 360-degree play-making, scoring 110 runs on the leg-side as compared to the 101 runs he scored on the off-side, and he also scored 56 runs off his pad.
India defeated New Zealand by 321 runs.
#3 235 vs England at Mumbai, December 2016
India defeated England in the fourth Test match by an innings and 36 runs to walk away with their fifth consecutive Test series. Ravichandran Ashwin took 12 wickets in the match but the highlight of the show was once again Virat Kohli who scored his third double-century of the year. Jayant Yadav and Murali Vijay scored their respective centuries.
Kohli, on the other hand, was in a league of his own, scoring freely and torturing the likes of James Anderson, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid at will.
#4 204 vs Bangladesh at Hyderabad, February 2017
In the one-off Test on Bangladesh’s tour of India, the host nation won by a comfortable margin of 208 runs. A century by Murali Vijay (108) and Wriddhiman Saha (106*) was overshadowed by the herculean effort of captain Virat Kohli who scored 204 off only 246 deliveries to take the game away from the visitors. This was Kohli’s fourth double hundred in a period of eight months.
#5 213 vs Sri Lanka at Nagpur, November 2017
After dismissing Sri Lanka for only 205 in the first innings, Indian batting line-up shattered all sorts of records to declare at 610 runs. As many as four batsmen scored centuries as Virat Kohli maintained his perfect record of not losing a Test series as captain. Ashwin took eight wickets to become the quickest to reach 300 wickets.
The skipper scored the fifth double century of his Test career and walk away with yet another man of the match award.
#6 243 vs Sri Lanka at Delhi, December 2017
Continuing from where he left off in the previous Test match against Sri Lanka, Virat scored his second successive double hundred of the series and stamp his authority as one of the greatest Test cricketers to ever play the game. The match ended in a tame draw but it didn’t stop India from registering their ninth consecutive series win and match Australia’s record held from 2005 to 2008.
#7 254* vs South Africa at Pune, October 2019
In the ongoing Test series against South Africa, Virat scored his seventh double century and registered his highest score in Test cricket in the second Test at Pune. He now stands fourth in the list of most double hundreds scored in a career having played only 81 Tests. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, India scored a mammoth 601 runs. Pujara (58), Rahane (59) and Ravindra Jadeja (91) scored half-centuries while Mayank Agarwal continued good form with yet another ton (108).